According to the Countess, the customs that eighteenth-century people observed were handed down in undisturbed continuation from earlier times. "Although the customs went underground they remained solid traditions celebrated by all who wished to do
so," she says.

In one of her recently published books, "Jane Austen's Christmas: The Festive Season in Georgian England," the historian
shows some of the most interesting and hitherto hidden aspects of the British Christmases of yesteryear celebrated by the whole Austen family.

Today, the British Isles usher in the holiday season with jubilant sound: church bells pealing, handbells ringing, choirs singing, and buskers and waits performing on street corners.